Painting business brings smiles to all

What do you get when you combine children, a community event and a fairy?

By Kelly Waterskwaters@wayneindependent.com

— What do you get when you combine children, a community event and a fairy?

Welcome to Waystock and Linda’s Face Painting.

Linda Snyder started doing it at age 16 and used her talents on family members and church groups. It wasn’t until 2010 when she really started using face painting as part of a business, which is based out of South Canaan.

“I had this set of paints with vivid colors and I fell in love with it,” she said. “I decided I need to get out in the public and do it.”

Now you will find Linda at various community events, making children excited to get characters, animals and designs on their faces.

The sixth annual Waystock festival was no different.

Even during this interview, children were lining up, eager to be the next one with a painted face.

“I’ve done birthday parties, First Night in Scranton, special events, helped out different organizations, zombies for Penn State and Promised Land State Park,” Linda said.

She also did face painting at the borough’s block party in June, held after the Pride and Patriotism Parade.

“It [the business] has been more successful than I thought it would be,” she said.

Some of the most popular designs are butterflies, a skull, Spiderman and unicorns. Linda said there are "about three dozen” options for children to choose from, in a book she keeps on display.

Her husband, Tim, also helps out.

“I help set up, organize the line to make sure it goes smoothly and even help them pick out what they want painted while waiting for their turn,” he said.

“He’s my business manager,” Linda added.

After Linda is done painting their face, Tim takes a picture of them to add to a slideshow that’s set up to also show the different creations.

“They get to see their own design too,” Linda said. “The kids love seeing them and they can even point out their friends.”

Linda said that is one of her favorite parts of doing face painting.

“I really enjoy seeing their faces when they see their design for the first time,” she said. “They grin and get excited. It’s pretty cool.”

Something that makes Linda unique is that she dresses up as a fairy when doing face painting.

“I started the costume in 2012,” she said. “I wanted something unique for the kids so they could see me and know exactly what I was doing.”